Butte County Juvenile Record Sealing

In an age where increased competition means finding every possible way to set yourself apart from others, having a juvenile record can be fatal not only to your employment opportunities, but also your academic advancement, state licensing, and even in finding housing.

A juvenile record remains accessible to prospective employers, schools and any others who wish to access your criminal history if it is not sealed.

If you are moving forward and want to wipe the slate clean beginning a new chapter of life on a level playing field, it’s time to clean your record with 530Attorneys.com.

Attorney Matthew Luzaich can in most cases appear in court without you being present and petition the court to have your juvenile record sealed. Once your juvenile record is sealed, you will be able to present yourself to prospective employers and others without the taint of a juvenile record.

Eligibility:

You are eligible if:

You are 18 years old or older, or it has been 5 or more years after jurisdiction of the juvenile court has terminated, AND

You have not been convicted of a felony or of any misdemeanor crime of “moral turpitude”1 as an adult, AND

The court finds that rehabilitation has been attained. (WIC. Sec. 781(a).)

UNLESS

You were convicted of an offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707 of the Welfare & Institutions Code when you were 14 years old or older (you are ineligible.)2.

Effect of Record Sealing:

Once the court has ordered your record to be sealed, the proceedings in the case shall be deemed never to have occurred, and you may properly reply accordingly to any inquiry about the events, the records of which are ordered sealed. (WIC. Sec. 781(a)(1)(A)3.)

The court may for good cause determine that the juvenile court record shall be retained. If no good cause exists for the record’s retention, then the court shall order the destruction of your record that is sealed 5 years after the record was ordered sealed, if the person who is the subject of the record was alleged or adjudged to be a person described by Section 601; or when the person who is the subject of the record reaches the age of 38 if the person was alleged or adjudged to be a person described by Section 602 (except if the person is found to be a person described in Section 602 because of an offense listed in subdivision (b), of Section 707 when he or she was 14 years old or older). (WI Code Sec. 781(d).)

Notes:

Crimes of moral turpitude include but are not limited to: Theft, some drug offenses, fraud, and certain sex offenses. (Consult a criminal defense lawyer to verify whether you have or have not been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude)

Offenses for which you may not have your record sealed: (1) Murder, (2) Arson, as provided in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 451 of the Penal Code, (3) Robbery, (4) Rape with force, violence, or threat of great bodily harm, (5) Sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm, (6) A lewd or lascivious act as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 288 of the Penal Code, (7) Oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm, (8) An offense specified in subdivision (a) of Section 289 of the Penal Code, (9) Kidnapping for ransom, (10) Kidnapping for purposes of robbery, (11) Kidnapping with bodily harm, (12) Attempted murder, (13) Assault with a firearm or destructive device, (14) Assault by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, (15) Discharge of a firearm into an inhabited or occupied building, (16) An offense described in Section 1203.09 of the Penal Code, (17) An offense described in Section 12022.5 or 12022.53 of the Penal Code, (18) A felony offense in which the minor personally used a weapon described in any provision listed in Section 16590 of the Penal Code, (19) A felony offense described in Section 136.1 or 137 of the Penal Code, (20) Manufacturing, compounding, or selling one-half ounce or more of a salt or solution of a controlled substance specified in subdivision (e) of Section 11055 of the Health and Safety Code, (21) A violent felony, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5 of the Penal Code, which also would constitute a felony violation of subdivision (b) of Section 186.22 of the Penal Code, (22) Escape, by the use of force or violence, from a county juvenile hall, home, ranch, camp, or forestry camp in violation of subdivision (b) of Section 871 if great bodily injury is intentionally inflicted upon an employee of the juvenile facility during the commission of the escape, (23) Torture as described in Sections 206 and 206.1 of the Penal Code, (24) Aggravated mayhem, as described in Section 205 of the Penal Code, (25) Carjacking, as described in Section 215 of the Penal Code while armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon, (26) Kidnapping for purposes of sexual assault, as punishable in subdivision (b) of Section 209 of the Penal Code, (27) Kidnapping as punishable in Section 209.5 of the Penal Code, (28) The offense described in subdivision (c) of Section 26100 of the Penal Code, (29) The offense described in Section 18745 of the Penal Code, (30) Voluntary manslaughter, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 192 of the Penal Code.

Wel. & Inst. Code § 781(a)(1)(A) – In any case in which a petition has been filed with a juvenile court to commence proceedings to adjudge a person a ward of the court, in any case in which a person is cited to appear before a probation officer or is taken before a probation officer pursuant to Section 626, or in any case in which a minor is taken before any officer of a law enforcement agency, the person or the county probation officer may, five years or more after the jurisdiction of the juvenile court has terminated as to the person, or, in a case in which no petition is filed, five years or more after the person was cited to appear before a probation officer or was taken before a probation officer pursuant to Section 626 or was taken before any officer of a law enforcement agency, or, in any case, at any time after the person has reached 18 years of age, petition the court for sealing of the records, including records of arrest, relating to the person’s case, in the custody of the juvenile court and probation officer and any other agencies, including law enforcement agencies, entities, and public officials as the petitioner alleges, in his or her petition, to have custody of the records. The court shall notify the district attorney of the county and the county probation officer, if he or she is not the petitioner, and the district attorney or probation officer or any of their deputies or any other person having relevant evidence may testify at the hearing on the petition. If, after hearing, the court finds that since the termination of jurisdiction or action pursuant to Section 626, as the case may be, he or she has not been convicted of a felony or of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude and that rehabilitation has been attained to the satisfaction of the court, it shall order all records, papers, and exhibits in the person’s case in the custody of the juvenile court sealed, including the juvenile court record, minute book entries, and entries on dockets, and any other records relating to the case in the custody of the other agencies, entities, and officials as are named in the order. Once the court has ordered the person’s records sealed, the proceedings in the case shall be deemed never to have occurred, and the person may properly reply accordingly to any inquiry about the events, the records of which are ordered sealed.

The information above is current as of April 2017. It is your responsibility to check with a California criminal defense lawyer to make sure the above applies to your situation. The above is not an adequate substitute for consulting a lawyer.